Archive for the ‘News’ Category

A new perimeter fence at the north end of the San Jose Airport is in place.

What will $3.4 million buy you in the Bay Area, besides a modest house in Palo Alto? How about a new fence around the San Jose Airport.

Work is finishing up now. I noticed it on my morning ride. Ewert Road, as it’s called (now there’s a trivia question), used to be the main route for the long-term parking lot on the west side of the airport.

But as we all know, that parking lot was shut down several years ago and moved closer to the airport on the east side of the Guadalupe River.

Based on the new layout — the road was split in two — the interior will be used by patrol vehicles, the exterior for bikes and the occasional patrol vehicle.

Follow up: The fence shown here is temporary. A permanent fence is being built behind this one.

There’s still time to stop by the Electric Bike Expo in Palo Alto today and test ride a wide variety of bikes.

I helped out at the raffle for a Tempo bike, a joint effort by the San Jose Earthquakes Community Fund, Branham Hills Little League, Silicon Valley Humane Society, and the California Bicycle Coalition.

Bosch and other sponsors set up the booths and test area in the Stanford Shopping Center next to Macy’s.

I’m encouraged to see the number of different ebikes and their increasing sophistication. As Marc Brandt said while visiting the expo, “Electric bikes are empowering.”

One guy who stopped by the raffle area said the ebike allows him to commute to work on his bad knees. It beats driving.

I’ve heard about some strange accidents in my day, but now there’s one more to add to the list — disc brakes slicing into legs.

Fran Ventoso abandoned Sunday’s Paris-Roubaix with a serious cut on his lower leg, now confirmed by multiple sources. He wasn’t the only rider injured by a disc brake. His open letter is posted on Velonews.

The photos are the kind best viewed by medical personnel used to seeing ugly injuries.

I’ve never used disc brakes, but people who do swear by them. They stop better in wet weather, no argument there. They’re becoming the norm on mountain bikes and now the pro peleton is using them.

The peleton will quickly decide whether or not they continue using disc brakes. So far the warning signs are dire. Not only are cyclist being cut, they’re being burned. In a crash, and there are more than a handful in races, riders have touched the hot rotors.

Another concern was pointed out by Jobst Brandt years ago — wheel separation. The front caliper is behind the fork, not in front as with all side-pull caliper brakes. It is not unheard of for a disc brake quick release, left loose, to loosen to the point that it doesn’t hold the wheel in place. When that happens, the wheel goes flying as the brake is applied.

Another potential drawback of disc brakes is hydraulic failure.

So why do disc brakes continue to gain in popularity? Some of it is marketing inertia. All industries are looking for the next big thing and disc brakes have sex appeal. They’re high-tech and they work better in the rain.

Another advantage is that now rims can be made lighter and will last longer since pad wear has been transferred from the rim to the rotor. Rim wear is a concern for people who ride lots of miles in the mountains. A rim can be worn to the point of failure. Jobst Brandt could attest to that.

I’m not interested in having disc brakes because I like to maintain my bike and dealing with hydraulics is just one more complication.

Disc brakes can be made safer and I’m sure they will now that the word is out. This injury reminds of the squirrel-caught-in-wheel stories that sprang up about a decade ago, around the time 16-spoke wheels became popular (Google it).

Yes, squirrels can become lodged in the front fork as they try to leap through the wheel. It has happened to more than one cyclist. It’s an ongoing concern for anyone riding 16-spoke wheels.

I don’t know about you, but I see more and more electric bicycles buzzing around on city streets, mostly a good thing.

The California state legislature last year changed how it defines the various electric bikes with Assembly Bill 1096. The new law deletes the “motorized bicycle” definition and defines an “electric bicycle,” a bike with fully operable pedals and an electric motor below 750 watts.

Now there are three classes, and manufacturers are required to affix labels designating which category they belong in, starting in 2017.

Class 3 electric bicycles “speed pedal-assisted” provide assistance only when the rider is pedaling and limit speed to 28 mph. They are banned from all bike lanes and paths, unless a local community decides otherwise.

Class 1 “low-speed pedal-assisted” and Class 2 “low-speed throttle-assisted” are OK to ride in bike lanes and paths, and have a maximum speed of 20 mph.

However, local communities can regulate Class 1 and Class 2 electric bicycles on their paths and bike lanes as they see fit. That’s an important point and one I wish the state hadn’t enacted.

Most if not all bike lanes and paths extend through multiple jurisdictions in the Bay Area. So now you are responsible for knowing where electric bikes are allowed and where they are not allowed.

I don’t have a problem with electric bikes on bike lanes and my only reservation on bike paths is that people keep their speed down when passing other cyclists and pedestrians.

Of course, that safety tip applies to bicycles. I can appreciate bike commuters being in a hurry and wanting to ride more than 15 mph on paths, but there’s no reason to speed by slower trail users. I see it all too often.

Right now bicycle and pedestrian committees around the Bay Area are taking up this issue. Mostly the city councils will go along with a bike committee recommendation, but you never know.

As electric bicycle/battery technology improves, I can see the day when the majority of bikes sold are electric assist.

Dave McLaughlin is a natural when it comes to dressing fashionably. He was usually the best dressed on Jobst Rides. Now you can own a jacket or vest designed by Dave, thanks to his Kickstarter project.

His first in a line of clothing is casual jacket wear, a wool/synthetic blend, probably best suited for the post-ride or ski excursion.

Back in the day when I had a column in the San Francisco Chronicle, I wrote about Bellwether, at the time the largest U.S. bicycle clothing manufacturer, based in San Francisco. I had the rare opportunity to see their manufacturing facility.

I also wrote about Diana Muzzy and Vigorelli, a fledgling bicycle clothing designer back in 1988. The one item I liked by Vigorelli was a synthetic t-shirt that I’ve worn for nearly 30 years! It’s comfortable and, obviously, was made to last.

Be on the lookout for a stolen Nishiki, vintage 1980. (Sourav Das photos)

Sourav Das had his 1980 Nishiki International, Serial #KJ 05449,stolen a few days ago in north San Jose and while it’s unlikely he will recover his bike, he’s doing all the right things to try to get it back.

Most bike thieves are opportunists, but in Sourav’s case, I’m not so sure. Sourav worked late, rolling up to his house, located on a quiet residential street, around midnight.

He walked it through the side gate and leaned it against the entry door to his garage, then walked back around the front of the house to enter. Unfortunately, he got a phone call and an hour passed before he thought to put his bike in the garage. Gone! (Not the first time I’ve heard this story)

There’s nothing more depressing than looking where you put your bike and seeing it gone. Happened to me, twice.

Here’s what Sourav is doing to try to retrieve his bike. That Nishiki is a unique, quality bike, so there’s a better chance it might be recovered. Nishiki made some nice bikes in Japan, importing through West Coast Cycles (WCC) distributor. The Cohen family, which owned WCC, had its pulse on the bike industry for decades.

Dia-Compe brakes. They rivaled Campy, almost.

1. File a police report. The San Jose police are completely overwhelmed, so go online and fill out the form. At least there’s a record. If your bike is stolen, don’t bother calling the SJPD police. They won’t respond, unless you have the thief in a half-nelson.

Sourav’s bike probably qualifies for grand theft ($950 value), but while that sounds impressive, it doesn’t mean much these days.

2. Alert bike shops. Sourav did that, even providing photos.

3. Check Craigslist. I’ve read of many accounts where thieves list stolen merchandise on Craigslist and get nabbed.

4. Tell your friends. Especially if they have a blog.🙂 Now there’s four of us who know about it.

5. Return to the scene of the crime. In Sourav’s case, that wouldn’t work, but that’s how I got my Ritchey back. I went back a few hours later. The thief lived in Alviso and was tooling around town. He’s behind bars now (for another offense).

All that’s left now are the nightmares. I can’t say I’ve gotten used to those.